Category Archives: Steelers News

Stephen Houston

Steelers Sign RB Stephen Houston

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The Steelers have signed rookie running back Stephen Houston today. Houston was cut by the Patriots on Sunday.

https://twitter.com/SteelersPRBurt/status/499580420078727168

Houston went undrafted out of Indiana and was signed by the Patriots in May. The 5’11”, 225 lb running back put up some explosive numbers at his pro day- 4.4 40, 40″ vertical, and an 11′ broad jump. The former Indiana back amassed 2304 rushing yards during his three year career there.

Houston was touted as one of New England’s most promising UDFA signings, but a fumble in the 4th quarter Saturday night sealed his fate there. After the fumble, Houston was benched and was waived the next day. Here’s a gif of the fumble.

Stephen Houston Fumble

Stephen Houston Fumble

Here are some of Houston’s highlights from Indiana.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxsd7d775-w

The Steelers still have one more roster spot available after the signing of Houston.

Steelers news

Steelers Have No Immediate Plans To Add A Punter

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I reported earlier that the Steelers placed P Adam Podlesh on the Reserve/Did Not Report list. The move was essentially a procedural one to free up the spot on the 90 man roster. When asked after practice if the team had plans to bring in another leg to compete with Wing, coach Tomlin said no. “Not as we stand here right now, no. Not that I’m opposed to it but not as we stand here right now,” said Tomlin.

About Podlesh’s current situation Tomlin said, “It is what it is right now. He’s on that list and his status will remain there until we hear otherwise. Right now we’re working with Brad, and I like the work that he’s doing.”

Podlesh can still rejoin the team. Being placed on the Reserve list doesn’t eliminate that possibility. While Wing may be the only punter on the active roster right now, I think the team taught us last year that the last punter standing after camp doesn’t necessarily have a job during the regular season.

Mike Adams

Mike Munchak: Mike Adams Had “Good, Solid Start”

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Mike Adams drew lots of criticism for his play against the Giants Saturday night. While his performance during the preseason opener wouldn’t earn him the label of technician, it wasn’t nearly as bad as many people were making it out to be. I think some people thought I was crazy the other day when I posted about his not so poor play in the forum.

Turns out, offensive line coach Mike Munchak agrees. In an interview with reporters at St. Vincent today, Munchak remarked on the offensive tackle’s performance. Via Chris Bradford of the Beaver County Times, Munchak said that Adams had a “good, solid start”. Coach Munchak also said that he thought Adams had some issues with technique early in the game, but settled in and was solid after time.

https://twitter.com/rayfitt1/status/499227401948495873

Munchak added that Adams is competing for the swing tackle spot with Guy Whimper. Personally, I don’t think that’s a very close competition. I can’t see any scenario where Adams doesn’t make the roster this year, but he’s going to need to continue to show the coaching staff that he can be trusted in pass protection. Munchak has already helped Marcus Gilbert fix some technique issues, and with time, there’s a strong chance he can do the same for Adams.

steelers

Steelers Place P Adam Podlesh On Reserve/Did Not Report List

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The Steelers have placed punter Adam Podlesh on the Reserve/Did Not Report list. Podlesh has missed all of training camp so he could be with his wife who underwent a complicated chidbirth. Putting Podlesh on reserve is really just procedural in nature so he doesn’t count towards the 90 man roster.

Currently the only punter in camp is Brad Wing, who had an inconsistent premier on Saturday. Podlesh can still rejoin the team at any time, and the move certainly doesn’t mean Wing will be the punter in 2014.

Adam Podlesh

Steelers Waive RB Jawan Jamison

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The Steelers have waived running back Jawan Jamison. Jamison didn’t play in Saturday’s preseason opener against the Giants.

https://twitter.com/SteelersPRBurt/status/498884059041239040

The Steelers signed Jamison a week and a half ago when they waived running back Alvester Alexander. Expect the team to make another signing in the near future to fill the available roster spot. Who is anyone’s guess.

Marcus-Gilbert

Contract Extension For Marcus Gilbert Could Get Done This Week

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If reports are to be believed, the next player to have their contract extended by the Steelers will be Marcus Gilbert. According to Ed Bouchette of the Post Gazette, the Steelers are trying to extend Gilbert, and the deal could get done this week.

There have been reports throughout the summer that Gilbert was seeking an extension, and the team had been negotiating with his agent. As recently as a couple weeks ago, Gilbert said that the Steelers were working on a new deal with his agent Drew Rosenhaus.

From the Trib: 

Tackle Marcus Gilbert, who is in the final year of his rookie deal, said his agent Drew Rosenhaus has been talking to the Steelers about a contract extension. “We will know in a few weeks,” Gilbert said. “I am either going to get it now or wait it out. For me, it is all about getting better with my guys.”

Gilbert has shown improvement and looked solid in the preseason opener. A few weeks ago, Craig Wolfey and Tunch Ilkin both agreed that Gilbert looks better, and that his base and stance have improved thanks to Mike Munchak.

When looking at contract values, you should avoid focusing on APY (average per year), but I’d expect his extension to be in the $5 Mil APY range.

Steelers news

Ryan Shazier Expects To Play Saturday Night

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Rookie linebacker Ryan Shazier told reporters today that he expects to play Saturday night in the Steelers 2nd preseason game. Shazier suffered what coach Tomlin referred to as “just a little boo-boo” to his right knee over a week ago, and hasn’t resumed practicing since.

In an interview this afternoon, fellow linebacker Lawrence Timmons said that Shazier is expected back by the end of the week. While wearing a big band aid of sorts on his knee, Shazier confirmed that he expected to play against the Bills Saturday night, but couldn’t say exactly when he’d return to practice this week.

The Steelers have regular practice today and tomorrow, then host the Buffalo Bills for joint practices on Wednesday and Thursday.

steelers

Steelers Preseason Game One: Offense And Defense Snap Counts

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Here are the play counts for the preseason opener against the Giants. The tables below can be sorted by name, position, participation, etc. On offense, Mike Adams toted all of the snaps at left tackle after Kelvin Beachum came out of the game. Ramon Foster left the game early due to an eye injury, and Chris Hubbard took his place.

Derek Moye and Justin Brown were on the field more than any other member of the receiving corps, with Moye getting the majority of the targets. Matt Spaeth and David Paulson got the majority of the snaps at tight end, with Blanchflower and Waters only seeing a handful of snaps.

Steelers Snap Counts- Offense

[wpdatatable id=9]

On defense, there were no real surprises. After the 1st team defense finished their brief exhibition, the backups picked up the bulk of the snaps. Cam Thomas is listed as DE, but he played nose as well. Thomas also subbed in and out with the 2nd and 3rd team. Loni Fangupo saw very limited time at NT, before Dan McCullers came in and saw the bulk of nose duty. With Troy out, Will Allen played opposite Mike Mitchell, and Sean Spence was starting opposite Lawrence Timmons with Ryan Shazier out.

 Steelers Snap Counts- Defense

[wpdatatable id=10]

Jarvis-Jones-Sack

What We Learned From The Steelers Loss To The Giants

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There was plenty of good and bad in the Steelers first 2014 preseason game.  Here are some takeaways from the loss to the Giants.

The first team offense looked pretty sharp with their starting quarterback at the helm…until they got to the redzone. The Steelers are no strangers to redzone problems, but I’m going to blame the vanilla and rather meaningless play calling of the first preseason game. It would have been nice to see an offensive touchdown scored at some point during the night, but we’ll have to be patient.

Dri Archer is dangerous. On the first drive Archer took a Roethlisberger screen pass 46 yards and it looked like he was holding back.

It’s premature to say the starting offensive line will be a bright spot this year, but they played pretty well last night. David DeCastro looks like David DeCastro. The man is a technician and looked to be in top form. Of the two times I watched the game, DeCastro’s performance stood out as the best on the line. I’ll review the offensive line play in more detail in a future article.

Markus Wheaton looked pretty good. He had a 10 yard gain on an end around and caught a Gradkowski pass on a deep post route for a 28 yard gain.

Martavis Bryant needs work. I would expect after reviewing last night’s film, he’ll be the subject of some heavy coaching this week. A muffed punt (why was he even returning?), a dropped pass that resulted in Bryant punching the ground, followed by a fumble by Bryant that killed a potentially game winning drive.

Brad Wing showed off some of that nice hang time, but he also showed how inconsistent he can be. I can’t see him being the Steelers punter this season if he shows more of that.

The first team defense looked pretty good aside from allowing a running back to take a handoff 73 yards for a touchdown. Cam Heyward was pushed off his gap, Lawrence Timmons was egregiously held, and some mistakes and bad angles in the secondary led to the Giants running back finding the endzone. The Steelers were in Nickel run defense. S Mike Mitchell looked like he might have been out of position, and S Will Allen missed the tackle to stop Rashad Jennings. Steve McLendon wasn’t in on the play. Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

Stephon Tuitt looked ready for primetime. He contained his gaps, he got penetration even while being held, and looked pretty darn good against the Giants starters. It was just the first preseason game, but he should contribute early, and  he sure looked the part of a Steelers defensive end.

Jarvis Jones can sack. No really, here’s proof.

Jarvis-Jones-Sack

Sean Spence made an amazing comeback. He looked solid last night, especially for a guy who many thought might never play football again.

Tauren Poole pulled himself ahead of the other second tier running backs last night with his special teams play. The other backs in that group were unimpressive, though, that’s typically the case.

Lastly, based on the quarterback play last night, let’s collectively pray that Ben Roethlisberger doesn’t miss a game this season. Gradkowski looked very rusty for much of his time under center last night. Landry Jones looked a lot better than he did last year, and he was a victim of the talent around him at times last night, but he still has warts.

 

Ravens Fines

Rookie Ref At The Helm For Steelers Giants Game

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Tonight’s game against the Giants at Met Life Stadium will feature the exciting debut of some Steelers rookies, most of whom many of us are anxious to see. Another rookie is making his debut tonight, however his first appearance will be much less anticipated. While not exciting news, it’s noteworthy nonetheless.

With the departure of Mike Carey, the league hired rookie official Bruce Allen as a referee this year. Allen was a ref in the ACC for 8 years, and officiated a couple of the big bowl games. He participated in the NFL’s new advanced officiating training program last year as a back judge, but it’s rare for a rookie to call a NFL game as a referee. So rare in fact, that it has happened since the 1960’s.

Here’s a look at the complete lineup for tonight’s officiating crew. I know it’s just the first preseason game, but knowledge is power.

[table]

Pos., No., Name, Years Exp.

R, 122, Brad Allen, 0

U, 11, Fred Bryan, 5

HL, 48, Jim Mello, 10

LJ, 100, Tom Symonette, 10

FJ, 67, Doug Rosenbaum, 13

SJ, 97, Tom Hill, 15

BJ, 6, Kirk Dornan, 21

[/table]

 

In the first 6 preseason games, there were 25 defensive holding calls and 9 illegal contact calls. Obviously the league is making it a point of emphasis this year, so we’ll see if it’s a factor in tonight’s game against the Giants.